Finishing Up with the Mountain West

This week we have taken a look at the Mountain West conference.It is exciting football that they play if you enjoy lots of scoring. By now, we should have an idea of how each team will finish. Let us take a look at the standings.

Mountain Division

1. Boise State 9-3, 6-2*

2. Wyoming 9-3, 6-2

3. New Mexico 8-4, 5-3

4. Air Force 8-4, 5-3

5. Colorado State 4-8, 2-6

6. Utah State 4-8, 2-6

Boise State makes a trip to the conference championship as they defeat Wyoming. Wyoming is our biggest mover as they go from 2-6 to 6-2. New Mexico rounds out the top three as they stay par to last year's record.

West Division

1. San Diego State 10-2, 6-2*

2. San Jose State 7-5, 6-2

3. Nevada 9-3, 6-2

4. UNLV 4-8, 2-6

5. Fresno State 2-10, 1-7

6. Hawaii 3-10, 0-8

You don't know the struggle of going through all of the tiebreaker rules for a three team tie in the Mountain West Conference. Once you go through all of the stipulations, the final one is the College Football Playoff poll. Given that San Diego State has a 10-2 record, I feel like they might be the only one ranked at season's end. San Jose State finishes second because they beat Nevada in the regular season. San Diego State falls to Boise State in the conference championship knocking them out of any consideration for the playoff. 

Bowl Eligible Teams

San Diego State

Nevada

Boise State

Air Force

Wyoming

New Mexico

San Jose State

Conference Player of the Year (Offense)

Brett Rypien, Boise State Quarterback

Conference Player of the Year (Defense)

Dakota Cox, New Mexico Linebacker

Conference Coach of the Year

Craig Bohl, Wyoming

College Football Preview: Boise State

Boise State Broncos

2015 Results: 9-4 (5-3, 4th in Mountain)

Defeated Northern Illinois in Poinsettia Bowl

Returning Starters: 9 OFF, 4 DEF, 2 SP

2016 Schedule

September

3rd at Louisiana

10th WASHINGTON STATE

24th at Oregon State

October

1st UTAH STATE

7th at New Mexico

15th COLORADO STATE

20th BRIGHAM YOUNG

29th at Wyoming

November

5th SAN JOSE STATE

12th at Hawaii

18th UNLV

25th at Air Force

We all know that Boise State is known for their offense, but what if I told you that they put on one of the best games defensively that has ever been seen? The Broncos faced off against Northern Illinois in last year's edition of the Poinsettia Bowl. NIU was averaging 426.6 yards per game and 34.9 points. The Broncos held them to 33 total yards!! NIU did score a touchdown, but it came from their defense. Since then, the Broncos have lost most of their contributors from that unit. Coming off a 9-4 season, one would imagine that the fan base would be pretty stoked anywhere aside from Tuscaloosa or Norman, but when these fans have seen their team win 10+ games in 11 of 15 years, the expectations are always high.

There is no question, this team will put up a ton of points. An offense that averaged 39.1 per game last year could do you one better this year. True Sophomore quarterback Brett Rypien is one of the nine starters on offense returning. The receivers are led by senior wide outs Thomas Sperbeck and Chaz Anderson. Tight end Jake Roh will be a production factor also. Rypien will have plenty of weapons around him on offense this year. The O-line returns four, but lacks depth and any injury would be critical. Don't be surprised even with the amount returning to see true freshman contributing on the offensive side of the ball. 

With only four starters returning, the defense will be tested constantly. There are no returners on the front line, but Sam McCaskill is the defensive end who has the most experience. Boise returns three of its top 5 tacklers from a year ago in linebackers Ben Weaver, Tanner Vallejo, and Joe Martarano. The secondary is the biggest question mark. Returning corner Jonathan Moxey and safety Chanceller James will be called upon to provide senior leadership for the depleted defense.

Player to Watch: Brett Rypien

Rypien will begin his first full season as a starter. The true sophomore was impressive as a freshman, but lacked consistency with his ability to deliver the long ball as the season went on. However, he did complete 63.6% of his passes for 3,350 yards with 20 TDs and only 8 INTs. Rypien is by far the best quarterback in the conference with most teams still undecided on their starter. Look for impressive numbers from yet another underrated Boise quarterback.

If you only watch them once, watch:

9/24 at Oregon State

Oregon State will be the Broncos second Pac-12 opponent in a row. They will have two weeks to prepare for the road trip after they face Washington State. 

What to Expect

The Broncos will look to return to the Mountain West Championship after a one-year absence. They do have a very difficult road schedule, but if they can make it 5-0 in October, they should be sitting pretty when they take on the West Division winner.

Prediction

9-3 (6-2, MWC)

-Dug 

@chansm1th

Mountain West College Football Preview

Not too long ago, the Mountain West was one of the best non-Power 5 conferences in football. From 2008-2010, the conference had a participant in a BCS Bowl. The two teams, Utah and TCU, are no longer members. Since their departure, Boise State has made the lone BCS Bowl (Fiesta Bowl, 2014). With the playoff, it will be more difficult to have a participant in it when you are a so-called Mid-Major. However, the conference has a team that very well could make a New Years Six bowl. 

The defending champion is San Diego State. They defeated Air Force in the Conference championship last year. The Mountain West sent seven teams to six bowls last year (Nevada beat Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl). The conference features two teams picked in the Top 30 Nationally: San Diego State at 19 and Boise State at 29. Below is the schedule of how we will be looking at the teams this week. 

Monday: Air Force and Boise State

Tuesday: Colorado State and Fresno State

Wednesday: Hawaii and Nevada

Thursday: New Mexico and San Diego State

Friday: San Jose State and UNLV

Saturday: Utah State and Wyoming

-Dug

@chansm1th